Vacuum can opener



March 5, 1957 s. P. BRADY UM CAN OPENER Filed Sept. 26. 1955 SfANLE/V R 429 INVENTOR.

7 2,783,914 VACUUM CAN OPENER Stanley P. Brady, Alton, Calif. Application September 25, 1955, Serial No. 536,488 2 Claims. (Cl. 220-52) The present invention relates generally to the field of can opening devices, and more specifically to a new and novel opener for removing the sealing bands from extremely large as well as from normal sizes of vacuum cans.

An ever-increasing variety of food products are being packed in vacuum cans of sizes appropriate to carry the quantity suitable for sale at retail. Peanuts, shortening, coffee and meat products are usually packed in cylindrical containers having a circumferential sealing band on the upper side wall thereof. In the smaller sizes such containers are not too ditficult to open with the ordinary T-shaped key attached to the can, but this type of opener and many variations thereof have the disadvantage that in actual use after but a few revolutions thereof the opener is diflicult to rotate any further because the portion of the sealing band coiled about the device tends to build up in an irregular spiral due to the fact that a constant tension is not maintained thereon. With each new revolution of the opener the handle thereof is momentarily released and as the tension is relieved the coiled band tends to unwind to assume an irregular spiral shape whereby the opener is no longer stably supported by the band in a fixed relationship to the can. These difiiculties may be tolerated in the smaller cylindrical containers, but in the case of large commercial sizes of cans such as those containing products in quantities used by restaurants, or in the case of hams that are packed in large irregularly shaped containers, these disadvantages frequently prevent opening of the cans except by the successive removal of sections of the sealing band that have broken away, so making several operations out of what should be one smooth continuous operation.

Still another disadvantage of the variations of this type of opener that are intended to be re-useable is the danger involved in removing therefrom the coiled sealing band that has been severed from the can. Unless means are provided to eject the severed band from the opener, the user of the device is subjected to injury from the raw, cut edges of the band.

A major object of the present invention is to provide a vacuum can opener that is adapted to remove the sealing band of any size of container, which device has means to eject therefrom the severed sealing band so that the device is re-useable.

Another important object of the invention is to provide a device of the nature described that is adapted to maintain itself at a fixed elevation relative to the top of the container on which it is used, whereby the sealing band which is severed from the container is coiled about the device in a regular, easily ejected spiral.

A still further object of the invention is to furnish a device which will remove a sealing band of a vacuum can by the smooth continuous rotation thereof so that while the band is being severed from a can it will at all times be subjected to a constant tension whereby the band is torn from said can as an integral piece without breaking.

Yet another object of the present invention is to make available a device that is adapted for both home and tates Fatent G i 2,783,914 Patented Mar. 5, 1957 ice commercial use in the opening of cans that are sealed by a narrow band in the side wall thereof or sealed by' wide bands on the top thereof, such as in sardine cans.

It is also an object of the invention to supply a device of the nature described which is simple and rugged of construction whereby it will have a long and useful life, but that is easily fabricated from standard commercially available materials so as to be marketable at a very low cost.

These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from the following description of a preferred form thereof and from the drawing illustrating that form in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the invention showing its use in severing a sealing band from a vacuum can;

Figure 2 is a horizontal cross-sectional view of the device taken on line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a front elevational view of the device showing a sealing band that has been severed from a can and held thereby;

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3 showing the positions of the parts of the device after the severed sealing band has been ejected therefrom; and,

Figure 5 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the device taken on line 55 of Figure 3.

Referring now to the drawing for the general arrangement of the invention, and in particular to Figure 1 there of, it will be seen that a slotted stem S that is adapted to receive the tab end of a vacuum can sealing band N is supported by a crank K which extends diametrically across ring R to which it is fixed. Ring R supports said crank and stem at a fixed elevation relative to the beaded cover of a can C and crank K revolubly supports ahandle H by means of which the device is continuously manually rotated to cause the sealing band N to be severed from the can N to be coiled in a uniformly tensioned spiral about stem S. When band N has been totally severed from the can it may be ejected from the invention by an ejecter sleeve L that is slidably telescoped over stem S, the band falling free of the device when the sleeve is moved downwardly leaving the device in reuseable condition.

The stem S, as can best be seen in Figure 3, is preferably formed from a cylindrical bar or rod of metal, and has a diametrical slot T cut therein of suflicient width to receive therethrough the free tab end portion of the seal band N, as is shown in Figure 2. Slot T extends longitudinally of said stem and is open at the lower end thereof to permit the ejection from the slot of the tab end portion of the band.

Crank K and ring R may, if desired, be formed as an integral unit out of a synthetic plastic material, or the like, in which case ring R would take the form of a circular plate. However, it has been found to be more economical and practical, especially from the standpoint of assemblying a device to slidably support ejector sleeve L on stem T to fabricate ring R and crank K as an assembly of component parts in which each member is made from a cylindrical rod or metal wire that may be easily formed into the shape illustrated in Figure 1 of the drawing. The shape of crank K is also shown in Figures 3 and 4 where it will be seen to comprise an L-shaped member having a horizontally disposed arm A and a vertically disposed arm B extending upwardly from one end thereof. Stem S is rigidly aflixed to the midpoint of arm A by welding, brazing or other suitable bonding means, and extends vertically downwardly therefrom, while arm B at its upper free end 'revolubly supports a conventional turning handle H that is adapted to be easily grasped by the fingers.

Crank K is supported on ring R which is an annular member that may be so formed from the same material" as the. crank. It will be seen in Figure l thatthediameter of ring R is approximately equal to the length of arm A of the crank, and the ends of said arm are rigidly fastened to ring R so that crank K'extends diametrically thereacross. With this arrangement the stem S is located at the center of the ring and extends downwardly normal to the plane thereof, while handle H is located at the circumference of said ring and extends upwardly normal to the plane thereof. In this manner a substantial mechanical advantage is established so that the invention can be operated with ease even though an unusually large sealing band be wound about stem S. Asring R is adapted to rest on the beaded edge-of the cover of can C, and is continuously supported thereby throughout the severance of band N from the can, stem S will at all times be maintained in the same relationship with the can C during rotational movementthereof'around the can.

Bands N that have been severed from can may be removed from the invention by means of ejector sleeve L which is best shown in Figures 3, 4 and 5. Sleeve -L comprises a cylindrical metal shell having two diametrically disposed slits D and G formed therein which ex tend longitudinally intermediate the ends of the sleeve. These slits are sufficiently wide that arm A of crank K may extend therethrcugh so that sleeve L may be vertically slidably positioned at the mid-point of arm A with stem S slidably telescopically receivable therein. A button E that is a circular metallic disc isrigidly connected to sleeve L at the upper end thereof and provides a convenient means for sliding the sleeve downwardly over stem T to eject a band therefrom.

Although it is not necessary, it may be desirable to provide means to hold sleeve L in the raised position on stem'S, thus leaving slot'T open to receive the tab end of the band N preparatory to removing same from the can. A coiled spring could be inserted in sleeve L-for this purpose, but if this feature is desirable it may be preferable to merely bias outwardly fingers S-1 and 8-2 of stem S that are defined by the lower portion of slot T. When thus biased, fingers S-1 and 8-2 will prevent sleeve L from gravitationally sliding downwardly over the fingers, but upon a downward force being applied to the sleeve, fingers S1 and 8-2 will be resiliently urged inwardly to permit the sleeve to be urged downwardly to eject a band from stem S.

The operation of the invention is very simple. When it is desired to remove sealing band N from a can C, the free tab end thereof is bent outwardly from the wall of the can to permit the insertion thereof in slot T preferably with the tab end extending beyond the confines of said slot. In positioning the 'iree'tabend in the slot the device is moved downwardly until the beaded edge of the can cover is contacted by ring R. Thereafter, by clockwise rotation of handle H, strip N is severed from the side wall of can C and delivered in a spiral coil onto stem S. It will be noted that the device is continuously rotated from'start to finish of the severing operation so that asubstantially constanttension is maintained on band N until it is totally severed, and as ring R rides on the can cover during rotation of the device, stem S is maintained at all times in a position parallel to the side wall of the container at a fixed elevation relative to the beaded edge.

Figure 1 depicts the invention removing the sealing band of a coffee can, while Figure 3 shows a completely severedband taken from such a can'tightly wound about stem 8. It will be noted that the diameter of the tightly wound band N is substantially less than the diameter of ring R, the difference of these diameters indicating theleverage still remaining in favor of the'device. Thus it will be seen that all sizes of cans that are likely to be encountered in the 'home use of the invention may easily andquickly be opened thereby, and upon the infrequent occasion when say -'-a large can of ham is-to--'be opened, the relatively long sealing band thereof may also readily and easily be accommodated by the invention with no danger that the diameter of same when wound about stem S will approach that of ring R. This arrangement makes the invention particularly well suited for commercial use in restaurants and the like where vacuum cans are usually large. It will also be understood that the device is also useable'to advantage in the opening of tops of cans similar to sardine cans.

As Figure 4 shows, the coiled band after having been severed from thecan C is easily ejected from the invention merely by pushing button E to cause sleeve L to slide downwardly over the stem to eject therefrom said band. As is well known, the raw edges of the severed band are quite sharp and fully capable of injuring the fingers, but sucha consequence is totally avoided with the present invention because the use of ejector sleeve precludes any need for touching bandN with thefingers.

Although the'form of the invention herein shown and described is fully capable of achieving the objects and providing the advantages'hereinbefore mentioned, it is to be understood that it is merely illustrative of the presently preferred embodiment of the invention,and that "I do not mean to limit myself to the details of construction herein shown and described other than as defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A device for removing the sealing band from a vacuum can which includes: a supporting ring that comprises an annular member formed of a rigid material; an L-shaped crankhaving first and second arms, said first arm being rigidly connected to said ring and'extending diametrically thereacross in such a manner that said second-arm extends upwardly from said ring normal to the plane thereof with the longitudinal axis of said second arm being spaced from the center of said ring a distance that is atleast equal to the radius of said ring; a handle that is rotatably mounted on the upper free end of said second arm of said crank; acylindrical stem that is rigidly affixed to said first arm at a point thereon which is coincident with the center of said ring, said stem extending downwardly from said first arm with the longitudinal axis thereof being normal to the plane of said ring, said stem having a diametrical slot extending longitudinally thereof which is open at the lower end of said stem, said slot being adapted toreceive the end of said sealing band of said can so that said device may be continuously rotated by-means of said handle in order to tear said band from said can; a cylindrical ejector sleeve that is adapted to slidably receive said stem, said sleeve having two diametrically disposed slits thatextend longitudinally intermediate the ends of said sleeve with said first arm of said crank extending therethrough; and a button that is rigidly connected to the upper end of said sleeve so that said sleeve may be moved downwardly relative to said stem to eject from said stem a sealing band that has been torn from said can.

2. A device as defined in claim 1 in which said slot in said stem defines two similar fingers of said stern that are biased outwardly away from one another so that said sleeve is normally maintained in a raised position relative'to said stem andso that when said sleeve is'moved downwardly over said fingers, said fingers are resiliently urged inwardly to permit said sleeve to eject said detached sealing band from said stem.

References Cited in the file of'this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,390,270 Wakefield Oct. 27, 1942 2,715,476 Lu'sk Aug. 16,1955

2,732,093 Chincholl Jan. 24, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,064,128 France .Dec. 23, 1953 

